THE Japanese Ambassador to the UK has chosen to visit a Burnley wrought ironsmith on a whistlestop tour of the North West.

Rourke & Co Ltd is one of only three places that His Excellency Masaki Orita will be visiting when he comes to the region on Thursday, November 27.

The firm, founded in 1961 by Brian and Betty Rourke, is held in high esteem in Japan as one of the world's top ironworking companies.

Brian, who has a 10-strong work force working solely on orders for the Japanese market, is looking forward to welcoming the ambassador to his Accrington Road premises.

Mr Orita will be given a tour of the factory and showroom and will be asked to unveil a 3.5metres high hand-forged dragon.

He will also be given a demonstration of how a traditional blacksmith transforms a red-hot piece of steel into a work of art.

The blacksmith will make a specially designed dragon-shaped bottle stopper, which will then be presented to Mr Orita as a gift to mark his visit.

Brian said: "This is a great honour. He is only visiting three places in the North West. It is a fantastic boost for Burnley that he has chosen to visit us." Mr Orita will also visit the North-West Development Agency, based in Warrington, and the Trafford Centre.

He added: "We work well with the Japanese, we enjoy doing business with them. They are courteous and very fair and they always demand a high standard of work."

Brian's breakthrough into the lucrative Far East market came quite by chance. A Japanese customer had seen some ornamental gates in Solihull in the Midlands and was forced to hire a private detective to discover they had been made by B. Rourke & Co.

The company, which employs about 100 people, now receives orders worth up to £250,000 for gates and fencing from hotels, wedding chapels and funeral parlours.

"The Japanese really appreciate traditional English craftsmanship," said Brian. "We have even done all the wrought ironwork for a replica they built of a church they had seen in the Cotswolds."

The firm also exports wrought iron products to the USA, Belgium, Denmark, Bahrain and Australia, among others and its handcrafted gates guard the homes of celebrities including Bianca Jagger, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Mike Tyson.